Can you believe we are at the end of the year? This is my last Writer Wednesday this year. Over Christmas, I’m working on revamping the whole website, so next time you visit I’ll have a facelift.

I’m welcoming K.L. Docter to my blog today, a romantic suspense writer extraordinaire. She put the suspense in romantic suspense. I told her if it weren’t for the sultry love scenes, she could crossbrand into the thriller category, easy.

Today we are talking about Killing Secrets, the first book in the Thorne’s Thorns series.

The Blurb:

Some secrets are better left dead.

Rachel James’ ex-husband is released from prison determined to reclaim her and her little girl — the child is his key to controlling the James fortune. Frightened, Rachel flees to Denver with the child who hasn’t uttered a word since her daddy went to prison.

Contractor Patrick Thorne wants nothing to do with another of his parents’ charity cases. He failed his own wife so abysmally she took her own life as well as his unborn son’s. After two years, it’s time to concentrate on the bid he’s won and the saboteur trying to destroy his construction firm.

There is no room for trust in either of their hearts. But trust is all that will untangle the secrets that dominate their lives, free a little girl of her silent prison, and save them all from a serial killer who stands too close.

(A Thorne’s Thorns Novel)

It’s difficult to tell a writer’s style from a blurb, so here’s a brief excerpt:

At the first crack of gunfire, Rachel dove headfirst into the garden she was weeding. Listening for the second report she expected to follow, she prayed Amanda stayed at Patrick Thorne’s house where she’d gone an hour ago to play with her new friend, Suze.

Gasping for air, she inhaled the rich, spicy scent of freshly turned soil and crushed nasturtiums instead. Dirt and grit bit into her cheek and the bare flesh exposed by her cutoffs and T-shirt. The mid-afternoon sun beat hot against her shoulders and legs, and all she could do was lie there and watch a fat bumblebee dip into a russet blossom three inches from her nose.

Had she run almost nine hundred miles only to die like this, grubbing alone in the dirt like a spineless worm?

A surge of anger gave her impetus to lift her head. She peeked over the flimsy wall of twelve-inch annuals between her and the street. A second gunshot rang out, belched in a cloud of black smoke from an ancient Volkswagen bus that disappeared around the corner.

Backfire?

She groaned, more relieved than embarrassed by her overreaction. Her chin dropped. Taking several deep draughts of the thin Colorado air, she worked to calm the pound of her heart against her ribcage. Her efforts made her head swim. A minute later she was able to push herself out of the three-foot section of garden she’d mown down.

Her nerves had been on edge since she fled Dallas on Friday, five days ago. If she weren’t so overwrought it would have occurred to her Greg would never stand at a distance and take potshots at her. No. Greg liked to look into her eyes when he meted out his punishments.

An icy shiver skimmed her skin. Each day that passed without his appearance should have reassured her she’d made the right decision to accept Katy’s arrangements with the Thornes. As long as Greg didn’t track her and Amanda to Denver, they were safe.

Problem is she hadn’t felt safe since Amanda was born and she discovered what kind of man she’d married. Now she couldn’t pluck enough weeds from Evelyn Thorne’s gardens by day to tear the anxiety from her heart at night. Her growing sense of trepidation kept her awake long after the morning stars dimmed above the mile-high city’s cloudless skies.

How could the justice system simply hand Greg a “get out of jail free” card? She’d always known the man had connections in high places, but how had he arranged for the evidence in his case—evidence she’d risked everything to provide—to disappear before he even went to trial? If he’d accomplished that feat while behind bars, how in the world was she and Amanda going to stay out of his clutches?

She felt like there were giant bull’s-eyes painted on their backs, that it was only a matter of time before Greg tracked them down. During their marriage the man would spend weeks, even months, laying meticulous groundwork for one of his cons. He’d had six months to plan dozens of new punishments for his betrayer.

“‘Til death us do part, darlin’.”

His words echoed over the expanse of time and distance, ringing a fresh peal of dread in Rachel’s breast. With one hand, she brushed clumps of soil off her tangerine T-shirt and whispered a small prayer. Please don’t let him find us!

**

Karen has a style that’s easy to read, with realistic dialogue and fast-paced action. This isn’t a quick mystery, coming in at over 300 pages. She is a master at weaving multiple story lines together and keeping you guessing until the very end. If you need something to keep you company these long winter nights, this is the book. You can grab it on Amazon for the steal price of $3.99, or read it as one of your Prime or Kindle Unlimited selections. Purchase it here: Killing Secrets (Thorne’s Thorns Book 1)

K.L.’s romantic suspense novels are filled with romance, although the dangers the hero and heroine face are intense, usually because a serial killer is bent on ending one or both of their lives before they can fall in love.

Her contemporaries (written as Karen Docter) are cute & spicy romances. She loves writing about real men and women with dreams and goals that don’t allow for a relationship just so she can throw them in each other’s path…with a tickle and a smile.

When she’s not saving her characters from death and destruction or helping them fall in love, she loves camping and fishing with her family, reading, gardening & cooking. If she can do most of those things over a campfire, all the better!

Before you go, if you haven’t grabbed it yet, my second novel (Under His Protection) is on sale at all major retailers for $2.99. Grab it quickly, because it won’t stay at this price long! All the links can be found here: Under His Protection.

Give Karen/K.L. a shout-out in the comments to make her feel welcome, and sign up for my newsletter before you go. I shoot for monthly, but it’s been less than that lately. Each month I reach ten new subscribers, I’m giving away a Starbucks giftcard.

4 Comments

kldocter •

Thanks for having me on your blog today, Lily. I hope that everyone enjoys Killing Secrets. It’s the first standalone novel in the Thorne’s Thorns series about six foster brothers, the dangers that enter their lives, and the women they come to love. All of the brothers are so deliciously protective that they just need their own stories.

Welcome, Karen! Your book sounds like fun, and I can easily see how it would lend itself to a series from your additional comment.

Lily, I enjoyed your Christmas memory today at Joan Reeves’ blog Sling Words…getting a manual typewriter for a present must’ve felt like the best thing ever, as it showed your father did indeed understand you (and your need to write). What a wonderful memory!